In announcement news today, Scream Factory will release Adam Brooks and Matthew Kennedy’s The Editor on Blu-ray and DVD on 9/8. It will include audio commentary by Brooks, Kennedy and Connor Sweeney, the Making Movies Used to be Fun documentary, music and poster featurettes, the Astron-6 film festival introduction, and deleted scenes.

Dito Montiel’s Boulevard, which is one of the last few films due to star Robin Williams, has been set for Blu-ray and DVD release on 9/1.

Amazon is currently taking pre-orders for the Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD release of Sony’s Pixels, which is now in theaters.

Lionsgate has announced the Blu-ray and DVD release of Heist, starring Hayden Christensen and Adrien Brody, on 9/8, followed by What We Did on Our Holiday for DVD only release on 10/6.

Anchor Bay Entertainment has set Northmen: A Viking Saga for release on Blu-ray, DVD and digital on 8/11, followed by Golden Shoes on DVD only on 10/6.

In release news today, Scream Factory has just unveiled the final cover artwork for its awesome new Army of Darkness: Collector’s Edition Blu-ray, which is now officially due on 10/27 (SRP $26.97). The extras will be announced in the weeks ahead, but you can see the cover artwork on the left there. This is my Boomstick!

In announcement news today, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has set Empire: Season One for Blu-ray and DVD release on 9/15. The Blu-ray version will include 11 uncut music performances from the series (the DVD includes 5 of them). [Read on here…]

Our friends at the Warner Archive have officially announced the Blu-ray release of Tony Scott’s The Hunger. The disc will be a BD-50, with 2.0 mono audio, the trailer, and audio commentary by Scott and Susan Sarandon. It’s not yet up for pre-order on their website, but it is definitely coming soon as you can see by the official cover art above left there.

Warner Home Video has set Adult Swim’s Mike Tyson Mysteries: The Complete First Season for DVD only release on 10/20 (SRP $14.98). Looks like you get all 10 episodes, but no extras. They also have Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell: Season 1 coming on DVD only on 7/14 (SRP $14.98), including 6 episodes plus deleted scenes, commentaries, screen tests and more.

Warner and Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time: The Complete Fifth Season arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on 7/14 (SRP $39.99 and $29.97), including 52 episodes and a behind-the-scenes featurette.

Warner will release The Following: The Complete Third and Final Season on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/13 (SRP $44.96 and $39.98), including 15 episodes, 4 featurettes, deleted scenes, the Funny or Die parody, a Comic-Con panel video, and a gag reel.

And Warner will release Reign: The Complete Second Season on DVD only on 10/6, featuring 22 episodes, deleted scenes, and a featurette.

Meanwhile, Arrow Video US has set Requiescant and The Mutilator for Blu-ray release in September (on 9/22 and 9/29 respectively).

Arrow Films UK will release the 6-part WWII drama The Saboteurs on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK on 8/10. No word yet of a US release.

Lionsgate has set Seeds of Yesterday for DVD only release on 7/21. This is the final part of their Flowers in the Attic adaptation.

Cinedigm has set the Hallmark Channel’s Cedar Cove: Season Two for DVD only release on 7/14, followed by When the Checks Stop Coming In on DVD only on 8/4.

Anchor Bay Entertainment will release the sci-fi films Earthfall and The Anomaly on DVD only on 10/6.

It appears that HBO is going to be re-issuing the first four seasons of Game of Thrones on Blu-ray this fall with new Dolby Atmos sound mixes and Steelbook packaging. The first two seasons arrive on 11/3 (SRP $79.98), with the other two set to follow later. You can read more here at USA Today. Thanks to Bits reader Barry P. for the heads-up.

Our friends at Scream Factory have announced that they’re moving their planned Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release of Wes Craven’s The Serpent and the Rainbow to 2016, to allow for the creation all new extras with “major talent” involved in the creation of the film. Sounds good to us. Meanwhile, you can see their official cover artwork below.

Finally, word on the Interwebs is that Lionsgate’s recent Terminator 2: Judgment Day Blu-ray re-issue (which streeted on 5/19) is a so-called “stealth” re-master. Essentially, it appears to be the same master as their Skynet Edition Blu-ray, but minus the excessive DNR that appeared on that edition, which results in a noticeable improvement in image quality. I haven’t yet confirmed this myself, but apparently many other enthusiasts online have done so. The best news? It’s only $8.99 on Amazon right now. Click here or on the cover artwork below to get a copy for yourself. Thanks to Bits reader Nick G. for the heads-up on this.

We’ll leave you today with a look at some new Blu-ray cover artwork. All but The Serpent and the Rainbow are available for order or pre-order on Amazon by clicking on the covers…

Back tomorrow with a new History, Legacy & Showmanship column from our own Michael Coate. See you then!

Here’s something exciting: Warner is releasing a few new Paramount catalog title on Blu-ray on 10/13, including Along Came a Spider, The Core, Escape from Alcatraz, Team America: World Police, and Witness. Some of those have been released on Blu-ray previously, but a couple are new, including The Core. Those are great choices, though if we can make a suggestion to Warner, how about looking into releasing some of Paramount’s classic sci-fi films like the original War of the Worlds, When World Collide, Conquest of Space, etc?

Warner Home Video has also set Max for Blu-ray and DVD release on 9/29. This is the film about the military dog come home that’s currently in theaters.

Universal will release I’ll See You in my Dreams on Blu-ray and DVD on 9/1.

Film Movement is releasing Eric Rohmer’s Full Moon in Paris on Blu-ray on 10/6.

Alchemy has set Buz Alexander’s Nocturna for Blu-ray on 10/6 as well.

Arrow Video has set Society for Blu-ray/DVD Combo release on 9/8.

Olive Films has The Sender due on Blu-ray on 8/25.

Kino Lorber has revealed that Joseph Losey’s Figures in a Landscape (1970), starring Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell, is coming soon on Blu-ray. So too is Guy Hamilton’s The Devil’s Disciple (1959), starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, and Lawrence Olivier, along with Sidney Salkow’s Robber’s Roost (1955), and Joseph M. Newman’s Fort Massacre (1958) and Gunfight at Dodge City (1959).

Echo Bridge Entertainment has set a Steven Seagal: 8-Movie Action Collection for Blu-ray release on 9/1, set to include Ruslan (aka Driven to Kill), Road of No Return, Silver Hawk, Taken in Broad Daylight, Formosa Betrayed, Tunnel Vision, and Burning Daylight.

And finally today, Icarus Films has announced the VOD and DVD release of Belinda Sallin’s Dark Star: H.R. Giger’s World documentary on 8/18 and 9/1 respectively. That promises to be really fascinating and interesting, and we’re looking forward to seeing it.

We’ve got a bit of good Blu-ray release news for you today, and a new Bits staffer too! First the news…

Anchor Bay Entertainment has set The Walking Dead: The Complete Fifth Season for Blu-ray and DVD release on 8/25 (SRP $79.99 and $69.98). That’s the regular edition and, as always, there will be another McFarlane Toys Limited Edition too that will be announced shortly. [Read on here…]

Meanwhile, Shout Factory has set the new animated feature film The Seventh Dwarf for Blu-ray and DVD release on 8/18.

PBS Distribution is releasing NOVA: Lethal Seas on DVD only on 7/21 and Frontline: Outbreak on DVD on 7/28.

We mentioned that Walt Disney Studios is releasing Star Wars Rebels: The Complete Season One on Blu-ray and DVD on 9/1. Unfortunately, it appears there will not be a lossless audio track on the release. According to the press release, you’ll get Dolby Digital 5.1 audio (with English, French, and Spanish subtitles).

And CBS and Showtime have set The Affair: Season One for DVD only release on 8/4, featuring all 10 episodes, character profiles, a costume featurette and bonus episodes of Ray Donovan and Madam Secretary.

Don’t forget (for those of you who missed it on Friday): The Digital Bits is holding a discussion panel down at San Diego Comic-Con next week! Here’s our official panel description:

We’re going to be showing you all the very first completed scene from the forthcoming Axanar feature film, which we just shot a couple weeks ago, and which I’ve just seen yesterday complete with visual effects by Tobias Richter and his Light Works team. (Which, I’m pleased to say, looks amazing!) The panel is going to be pretty damn cool, so – whether you’re a longtime Bits reader, a Star Trek fan, or just a fans of Blu-ray and DVD in general – we hope to see you there!

We’ve also got a bunch of new title announcements to talk about… [Read on here…]

First up, Warner Home Video has revealed a pair of major catalog Blu-ray collections for Halloween-timed release. The first is a 4-film Special Effects Collection that’s set to contain Mighty Joe Young (1949), Son of Kong (1933), Them! (1954), and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), all of which are new to Blu-ray on 10/6. Both Mighty Joe and Beast are Ray Harryhausen classics, so it’s great to finally see them coming to HD. Also that day, look for a new Hammer Horror Classics Collection from Warner, including Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), The Mummy (1959), Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969). The late Christopher Lee appears in all but Frankenstein, so again it’s great to see these films coming to Blu. All of them will be available both in the collections and also individually, which is terrific news for fans and collectors.

Meanwhile, Twilight Time has revealed their plans to release The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), The World of Henry Orient (1964), Places in the Heart (1984), and A Month in the Country (1987) on Blu-ray on 7/14 (the pre-order date is 7/1 at 4 pm EST on Screen Archives Entertainment). All will include at least audio commentary with film historians, isolated score tracks, and the trailers.

Kino Lorber has just re-slated F/X2 for Blu-ray release on 12/8. Other great catalog titles that Kino currently has on the way include Busting, The Satan Bug, Vigilante Force, The Wonderful Country, Man with the Gun, Defiance, Hidden Agenda, The Destructors, Hornet’s Nest, Billy Two Hats, The Honey Pot, Moby Dick, Unforgettable, Support Your Local Sheriff, Support Your Local Gunfighter, House of the Long Shadows, and Young Billy Young. You can find more details as to the street dates and extras on the company’s Facebook page.

We're not done yet: Scream Factory has just announced a pair of new catalog horror titles coming to Blu-ray on 10/20, including Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995) and Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood (1996). Extras will be announced later this Summer.

And finally, Well Go USA Entertainment has set Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal for Blu-ray and DVD release on 8/4, directed by Peter Pau.

Now then… we have a quick update for you on Warner’s Batman TV BD replacement program. If you live in Australia, the e-mail address to contact to arrange your replacement is apparently: ConsumerCare@Roadshow.com.au. Special thanks to my friend and Bits reader Robert H. for the heads-up!

Robert also provided us with images of Network’s newly-revealed Space: 1999 – Season Two Blu-ray cover artwork and a promotional poster used to promote the release at the Andercon convention in the U.K. yesterday…

We’re still trying to determine who the U.S. distributor will be, but rest assured we won’t stop until we find out. We have a sneaking suspicion that the potential U.S. distributor may be waiting for Network to finally complete work on the title so that they don’t have to share its production costs.

Finally today, a complete shift of gears – I had the great fun on Saturday of being a part of the first day of production for the forthcoming Axanar feature film. Axanar, as most of you should know by now, is an independently-produced Star Trek feature film. No fan film this; it’s a fully-professional but 100% non-profit effort, funded by Kickstarter backers, as CBS owns the franchise. But the goal is to create a dramatic film that absolutely fits in the Trek cannon (midway between Enterprise and The Original Series), even if it can’t officially be called cannon.

As I’ve mentioned here before, I’m serving as Script Consultant on the project. The scene we shot is one that takes place on the planet Vulcan, between Ambassador Soval (played as always by veteran actor Gary Graham) and a new character. It runs about a page and a half. My good friend Alec Peters, who is the Executive Producer and driving force behind the project, had the team well organized and running like clockwork for the day. Another old friend, Robert Meyer Burnett (Free Enterprise) is the Director of the film. Rob and I actually did a re-write on the scene a few days before shooting to really help bring out character and hone the dialogue. The shoot took place out in the studio parking lot, in natural light, in front of a green screen. Our old friend Charles de Lauzirika (director of Crave and many great Blu-ray documentaries) was there as a Consulting Producer. Also on hand to help was another good friend: Kevin Rubio of Troops fame. Our thirty-something person crew worked like mad for a good ten hours to capture the scene in 6K, using the Red Dragon camera. The result should really be special. I’ve just seen a rough edit this morning, and VFX supervisor Tobias Richter and his Light Works team are already hard at work on the background plates. The scene is going to debut at the start of the next Kickstarter for the project, which launches on 7/8 (this is to cover the production and post budget, whereas the previous Kickstarter covered pre-production, set construction, props, studio space, etc). We’ll also be showing the final scene during our Comic-Con panel down in San Diego next month – more details on that later this week.

All right, we’ve got a quick Blu-ray release news round-up for you today, then we’ll be back tomorrow with new Blu-ray reviews from Tim.

First up today, Twilight Time has just announced the Blu-ray release of George Roy Hill’s The World of Henry Orient (1964) starring Peter Sellers, Steve Kloves’ The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), Rona Jaffe’s The Best of Everything (1959), Robert Benton’s Places in the Heart (1984), and Pat O’Connor’s A Month in the Country (1987). All will soon be available for pre-order on Screen Archives Entertainment with release dates of 7/14. [Read on here…]

Warner Home Video will release The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Sixth Season on Blu-ray and DVD on 9/1, featuring 22 episodes. Extras will include The Vampire Diaries: Good Bite and Good Luck and The Vampire Diaries: Best.Reaction.Ever. featurettes, audio commentary on episode 615, The Vampire Diaries: 2014 Comic-Con Panel, the Come Visit Georgia PSA, deleted scenes, and the Second Bite gag reel. WHV has also set The Originals: The Complete Second Season for Blu-ray and DVD release on 9/1, featuring 22 episodes plus The Originals: Always and Forever featurette, The Awakening web series, The Originals: 2014 Comic-Con Panel, the Come Visit Georgia PSA, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.

Lionsgate will release Child 44 and Barely Lethal on Blu-ray, DVD and digital on 8/4, followed by Power Rangers Super Megaforce: The Legendary Battle and History Channel’s Last Days of the Nazis on DVD only on 8/11.

Scream Factory has set The Outing/The Godsend and Cellar Dweller/Catacombs for Blu-ray release on 7/14.

Virgil Films is releasing the I Am Evil Knievel documentary on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital on 6/30.

RLJ and Acorn Entertainment have The Driver, Lovejoy: Series 6, and Lovejoy: Complete Collection on DVD only on 6/16, and A Place to Call Home on 6/30.

PBS Distribution will release Dick Cavett’s Vietnam on DVD only on 7/7.

The Cinema Guild will release Lisandro Alonso’s Jauja on Blu-ray and DVD on 7/21.

Cinedigm has set If You Build It for DVD and digital on 6/23.

Kino Lorber has announced the Blu-ray release of Peter Fonda’s Wanda Nevada (1979) and Wolfgang Petersen’s Shattered (1991) – both are coming soon. Coming in October on both Blu-ray and DVD are Eugenio Martin’s Bad Man’s River (1971) and Alexander Singer’s Captain Apache (1971). Both films star Lee Van Cleef. Also coming in October to Blu-ray and DVD is Gordon Hessler’s The Oblong Box (1969) – an Edgar Allen Poe adaptation. DVD only titles in October include Robert Wise’s I Want to Live! (1958) and Ralph Nelson’s Lilies of the Field (1963).

And Kino has also set The Front Page for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 8/11 as part of their Classics line.

In other news, it looks as if the first Blu-ray release to include DTS:X is going to arrive in July: Lionsgate Ex Machina.

Remember that Black Angel news we were expecting? Well, it turns out that the short film is going to be turned into a full-length feature film! You can read more here on the film’s Facebook page. Presumably, that (and the original short film) will be released on Blu-ray and DVD after the theatrical release. Pretty cool.

Okay, we’re closing out the week with an early look at bunch of new Blu-ray cover artwork.

Because why not right? It’s not like there’s much in the way of announcement news today, and we’re all busy working on new reviews for next week. [Read on here…]

So here’s a look at nine new Blu-ray titles, including the BBC’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, Twilight’s A Man for All Seasons, American Buffalo, and Hombre, and a bunch of cool new titles from Kino too including Life Stinks, Cherry 2000, Zone Troopers, and Miracle Mile.

Note that the Twilight titles are now up for pre-order on Screen Archives Entertainment. The rest of the covers all link to Amazon.com...

Have a fine weekend (and a Happy Mother’s Day!), and we’ll see you back here on Monday. Peace out!

Here’s something cool: Shout! Factory has announced that they’re going to be releasing a Hackers: 20th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray and DVD on 8/18. Details will follow in the weeks ahead.

Also, Scream Factory is releasing a pair of IFC Midnight titles on Blu-ray in August, including the Australian zombie film Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead on 8/4 and the alien invasion film Ejecta on 8/18. Scream has also set Toolbox Murders 2 for Blu-ray and DVD release on 8/4. As we’ve mentioned previously, the company also has The People Under the Stairs coming on 8/11, followed by The Sentinel and Nomads on 8/18, and The Legacy and Metamorphosis/Beyond Darkness on 8/25. Scream has just delayed The Serpent and the Rainbow from its planned August street date to later in 2015 or early 2016. Still not done: Scream will release the retro Italian horror title The Editor on Blu-ray and DVD this Fall.

Meanwhile, our friends at Twilight Time are releasing State of Grace (1990) on Blu-ray on 6/9. Extras will include an isolated score track, audio commentary with director Phil Joanou and film historian Nick Redman, and the original theatrical trailer. They’re also releasing the British rock musical Absolute Beginners (1986) on Blu-ray on 6/9 (extras TBA). Also coming on 6/9 is François Truffaut’s Mississippi Mermaid (1969 – extras TBA). I LOVE this one: The company will release Edward Anhalt’s The Young Lions (1958) on Blu-ray on 6/9 as well (extras TBA). And I REALLY love this one: Look for Anatole Litvak’s The Night of the Generals (1967) on Blu-ray on 6/9. So... I guess what I’m saying is that 6/9 is going to be a great day for classic film fans. The pre-order date for all these titles should be 5/27 (4 pm EST) on Screen Archives Entertainment. Gotta hand it to Twilight. They’re kicking ass right now.

Kino Lorber has announced a few great new deep catalog titles for release on Blu-ray and DVD too, including John Huston’s Moby Dick (DVD ONLY – 1956 – presumably MGM is working on their own Blu-ray) and Ted Kotcheff’s Billy Two Hats (1974) in September. Both star Gregory Peck. Also “coming soon” are Wayne Wang’s Slam Dance (1987) and Jerry Kramer’s Modern Girls (1986). On 7/28, look for Cherry 2000 (1987), The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein (1978), Miracle Mile (1988), Prime Cut (1972), Zone Troopers (1985), and Monte Walsh (1970). And on 7/7, look for The Crimson Cult (1968), Pit Stop (1969), Report to the Commissioner (1975), Spasmo (1974), and Truck Turner (1974)

Olive Films’ June slate will include Fled (1996), Johnny Be Good (1988), Mean Season (1985), a Soul Plane: Collector’s Edition (2004), Stone Cold (1991), The Thing with Two Heads (1972), and Thrashin’ (1986), all due on both Blu-ray and DVD on 6/23.

Also, Magnolia has set the Simon Pegg comedy Kill Me Three Times for Blu-ray and DVD release on 7/7.

Finally, Well Go USA has For the Emperor due on Blu-ray on 7/7.

We’ll leave you with a bunch of new Blu-ray cover artwork (with Amazon pre-order links if available)...

Back tomorrow. Stay tuned!

- Bill Hunt

]]>billhunt@thedigitalbits.com (Bill Hunt)My Two CentsThu, 07 May 2015 12:49:11 -0700On Robert Altman (and a New Biography on his Life and Work)http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/view-from-the-cheap-seats/on-robert-altman
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/view-from-the-cheap-seats/on-robert-altman

Robert Altman said his last “that’s a wrap,” can you believe it, some eight or nine years ago and it seems as though any hope of mainstream studio films with emotional weight, sharp characters, social satire and natural, cliché free dialogue was buried right next to him.

Every Hollywood director since the beginning of the medium owes a debt to Robert Altman. His style was so distinctive, so fresh and so natural that people would say to themselves, “Oh that’s what directors do.” [Read on here...]

Altman owned the 1970s, which many historians will most certainly remember as being the greatest decade in American film history. After years of toiling in television drama, he directed, far away from interfering studio eyes, M*A*S*H, which would be, ironically, the largest financial hit of his career. From that point until his death, he never hesitated, never stopped. When studios would abandon him, he turned to television; when TV couldn’t find a place for his vision, he went to Broadway then to opera then to film school, where he filmed a masterful single character drama in a sorority house. Then, as though he never left, Hollywood remembered him as his sword became sharper and he worked until he died, with a deal memo for what would have been a masterful final film on his fax machine.

Every Hollywood director since the beginning of the medium owes a debt to Robert Altman. His style was so distinctive, so fresh and so natural that people would say to themselves, “Oh that’s what directors do.”

A concerted effort to bring Altman and his work around again is paying large dividends – the best movie of last year, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, was a kissing cousin to Altman’s take on Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye and, following an exquisite documentary, which achieved the rare distinction of telling, with equal finesse, both Altman’s personal and professional biography, comes an oversized book that could quite possibly be the most intelligent and thoughtful of its kind. And it’s written in a partnership with Giulla D’Agnolo Vallan and Katherine Reed Altman, as in Mrs. Robert Altman, as in his most effective creative partner, his muse and the love of his life.

And I got to interview her. She may now be the love of mine. A fiercely opinionated yet quite charming and effusive, Mrs. Altman is the keeper of the flame. Would that Orson Welles or other artists who had rollercoaster personal lives, married and divorced and kids here and there had someone that was such a real partner.

Mrs. Altman was an actress, of sorts, and met Mr. Altman during the television stage in his career, they got married with three children of his and one of hers looking on and two more would join the firm later.

She describes the director ever so wistfully as a “honest to goodness boy next door type,” with mid western sensibilities and a strong sense of family and Altman’s brood watched as he continued to slog through television and through his first two major studio features, which were Countdown in 1968 and That Cold Day in the Park a year later. While both films are now considered now to contain signals that would very soon launch an extraordinary career, they were both afterthoughts at the time. In fact, Countdown, which starred James Caan and Robert Duvall, neither the box office star they eventually would become, was released as the bottom of a double bill with The Green Berets. Altman’s third feature was released with little fanfare, mostly as 20th Century Fox had absolutely no idea what to do with it. Featuring a rather starless cast and a feeling of ensemble perhaps unseen in any major picture, Altman, hiding from studio executives during its filming, delivered M*A*S*H.

We all know what happened next, well, actually for the next 25 years. Movies, glorious movies. What we perhaps didn’t know was that Altman’s family traveled for the most part to every location, and that Mrs. Altman, even now, remembers each film mostly by where it was shot, so ensconced was she with the production. The children entered the business too, for the most part – they’re production designers and cameramen and musicians and in the case of Wesley Ivan Hurt, Altman’s grandson, who played, with relish and style, the role of Swee Pea in Popeye added acting to their resume.

Altman’s early output as an “A” list director was astonishing. Brewster McCloud, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Images, Thieves Like Us, California Split and The Long Goodbye all hold up grandly today. But, in the Altman canon they were the first pitches toward a home run.

Watch Nashville today. Watch the Criterion Blu-ray. There is absolutely nothing like it.

“Altman” offers a wonderful essay by Kurt Vonnegut (Altman announced in Playboy that he was going to make Breakfast of Champions which, sadly, never happened) regarding Nashville.

“Most that has been done with a movie camera so far has been as silly as a penny arcade. But now Robert Altman has used the camera to produce a ribbon of acetate that, when illuminated from behind, projects onto a flat surface in a darkened room anywhere a shadow play of what we have truly become and where we might look for greater wisdom. The name of the film is Nashville.”

Also included in the book is a 1983 letter to Altman from no less than Richard Nixon, who leaves a giant footprint on Altman’s career, from Nashville, to Philip Baker Hall portraying the president in a one man play filmed by Altman entitled Secret Honor.

Nixon says: “In talking with my daughter Julie recently she told me that one of her all time favorite movies was your Nashville.”

I did not get to see it and wondered if by chance it has been or will be released on cassette. Don’t go to too much trouble but if your secretary would check it out, I’d appreciate it.”

Say that again?

Julie even sawNashville? Please. She would have needed an interpreter. Mrs. Altman said her husband cherished the letter but what is that about? He was trying to mooch a copy? Those were form letters to every director in town so that he could build up a library?

Post Nashville, there’s Buffalo Bill and the Indians, certainly not the film Dino De Laurentiis envisioned, then a series of pictures for 20th Century Fox including 3 Women, A Wedding, A Perfect Couple, Quintet, and, a feature considered so bad that Fox never officially released it and the only such that is not available in home video, Health.

Next up, Popeye, Altman’s musical take on the classic cartoon character. Co-produced by Disney and Paramount, one can only imagine the bone headed studio executives who envisioned the ruination of this character as they later would Yogi Bear, The Cat in the Hat and countless others. I think Popeye, released right at the burgeoning of home video, was the last movie I saw in the theaters over three or four times (I’ve only gone back to see one in the last 20 years, Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd, which I might watch again tonight.)

Popeye was ravaged by the critics and is probably considered a flop today, although it was hugely successful financially. Word to the wise, it’s a masterpiece and plays as wonderfully today as it did thirty years ago.

“Reviewers took aim at Popeye, and made it somewhat of a joke,” said Mrs. Altman. “The reception to that particular film broke Bob’s heart.”

Post Popeye it was slim pickings for Altman and he eventually moved to Paris. It is during this period that the magnificent Vincent and Theo, originally shot for a four hour television mini-series, Beyond Therapy, Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, which Altman had directed on Broadway, Fool for Love and The Caine Mutiny Court Marshall and other films for television were made Many of these were released very sparsely and most appear today as afterthoughts.

But the old master wasn’t finished yet.

The Player began a strong renaissance of Altman’s work and was a major hit, leading to Short Cuts, Kansas City, Cookie’s Fortune and his last masterpiece Gosford Park.

A true sleeper among this last batch of brilliance was The Gingerbread Man, based on a script by John Grisham and starring Kenneth Branagh. The film went through a very public struggle until Altman’s version was released.

“Gingerbread Man is a wonderful, beautiful film,” Mrs. Altman said. “I remember Bob was particularly proud of that one and he fought with all he had to see it released correctly. We had a wonderful time during production, but it zapped Bob that he had to fight so hard for it.”

Altman would receive an honorary Oscar, direct a final film, A Prairie Home Companion and die. And leave behind a voice as lovely as his own to celebrate his career and catalogue his legacy.

“Actors loved Bob,” said Mrs. Altman. “All the greats in the movie business either worked with him or wanted to – from his stock company of Shelley Duvall and Paul Dooley and Keith Carradine to genuine superstars like Paul Newman, Elliott Gould and Meryl Streep, they all realized that he was a wonderful, gentle spirit who made his actors and his crew part of the family and his family at home part of the crew. That was his genius.”

“Altman,” published by Abrams and available where fine books are sold, could be considered a film lover’s holy grail of a coffee table book. Mine would never serve that purpose – it might mean other people would touch it.

New on Blu-ray & DVD

Kino Lorber is an important distributor of both classics and brand new independent films which, frankly, need to be seen. In their words, the company “brings critically acclaimed classic and contemporary world cinema to discerning audiences, whether in theaters, at home or online.”

In fact, the above discussed The Long Goodbye, on my all time top ten list, as well as Thieves Like Us and Buffalo Bill and the Indians are available there in magnificent Blu-ray editions.

The company also has, in its library, modern day classics, all mostly forgotten gems, like Hickey and Boggs, Last Embrace, John Frankenheimer’s 52 Pickup, based on the Elmore Leonard novel, Billy Wilder’s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and too many more to mention, but all that you’ll want. (My Oklahoma City friend and noted attorney Mark Brown regularly hides his credit card bills from the little woman with regard to purchasing masterpieces such as these.)

For May, Kino Lorber announces the Blu-ray and DVD releases of two films by masters of European horror: Mario Bava’s The Evil Eye (along with the alternate European cut, The Girl Who Knew Too Much), about a young woman who launches her own investigation of a murder only to learn that she might be next on the killer’s list, and Jean Rollin’s The Escapees, which follows two female mental patients who have escaped from a hospital and embark on a dreamlike journey across the French countryside.

While we’re on web addresses, here’s a change – one can no longer find these fabulous, one of a kind films of Warner Archive at its old site – you must now go www.wbshop.com to search for these glorious masterpieces. Just for one day I would love to be the person, or on the committee, who decides what films to release and which ones to dangle in front of us mere mortals as “coming soon.”

This month Warner Archive has released the Blu-ray of the magisterial 42nd Street in glorious black and white. You’ve seen copycats of this showbiz masterpiece, and you may have even seen its Broadway incarnation but this is the real deal and it’s a wonderful piece of history that I’ve watched about eight times.

Get these other titles, many of which, even I, your humble servant who knows all, never dreamed existed. The Goldwyn Follies with Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy and the Ritz Brothers, who I still insist, despite negative connotations from those ignorant, are funny; the complete set of Tony Anthony’s (his real name belongs in the forward of The Godfather as these are all Italian westerns) The Stranger and its sequels; Arrow in the Dust, which I would watch just to see its star, Sterling Hayden, as well as my longtime family friend Jimmy Wakely, from Rosedale, Oklahoma; The Marauders with Dan Duryea; Black Patch, starring George Montgomery, who I had dinner with once in Reno, Nevada and Black Gold, with Anthony Quinn, directed by no less than Phil Karlson.

I love a company called Cheezy Flicks – they come up with some real whack job pictures from who knows where, along with the now and again revival of a true forgotten classic. It was from these fine folks that I recently got my copy of the comedy classic Viva Max.

This month is no different – grab these while you can – Summer Heat, a deep and provocative character study which probably played every drive-in in America; Shelter a new post apocalyptic thriller which merits ownership and Chiller 3, which I’m sure can’t much the subtlety and deep human emotions of the first two. They’re fabulous.

Ah, but Cheezy Flicks has found a real sleeper, one totally lost to time, Silver Bears, a somewhat complicated caper with Michael Caine, who I’ve decided might be the greatest leading man in movie history, Louis Jordan, the great Martin Balsam and, get this, legendary comics Tommy Smothers and Jay Leno. If you have never seen this movie, directed by Ivan Passer, who made many wonderful pictures in the 70s, you should purchase this today.

Criterion is the granddaddy of all re release platforms for classic films and, lately, they are batting 1000.

First up is the lost film noir Ride the Pink Horse, in fabulous black and white Blu-ray. This is one that hardly shows up on TCM and is a must own. Directed by its star Robert Montgomery with an Academy award nominated performance from classic character actor Thomas Gomez, the rough tough picture is based on the novel by Dorothy B. Hughes, who also wrote the novel upon which perhaps my favorite Bogart movie, In a Lonely Place was based. There are of course tons of extras.

Another crime thriller, this one from the early 70s, is also receiving the Criterion Blu-ray treatment. The Friends of Eddie Coyle, based on the novel by George V. Higgins, the late, great, George V. Higgins, stars a perpetually weary Robert Mitchum, need we say more, as a low life Boston crime figure in over his head. In fact, wasn’t Mitchum always in over his head. Extras here too and a must own.

The great Jean Paul Belmondo stars in two influential and still wildly funny comedies from the Cohen Collection – the first, That Man from Rio, is a real find and a sight to behold on Blu-ray. This spy spoof released in the throes of James Bondage but plays as fresh as the day it was released. Up to His Ears is also available in this package, another Belmondo classic that has the same sense of humor as some of the wonderful Blake Edwards pictures of the same era.

Also this month from Cohen is a personal favorite – Hotel Sahara, directed by Ken Annakin and starring two time Oscar winner and legendary performer Peter Ustinov, as well as Yvonne De Carlo and David Tomlinson, he of Mary Poppins.

Actually, give this wonderful company a hard look. They love movies and I’m proud to know them.

There are two recent Blu-ray pictures released from Olive Films that I must take the time to discuss, both from the heyday, so it seems, of Republic Pictures.

Stranger at the Door, directed by the William Whitney, the man who no less than Quentin Tarantino says is his supreme influence (also he’s from Oklahoma) is one of the weirdest B picture westerns ever made, and absolutely stunning.

I think this movie had to be one of the first in Hollywood, actually released in 1956, to use generic religion as its key element, with minister MacDonald Carey trying to reform seemingly unredeemable outlaw Skip Homier (an actor who gave it all up and is still among us – he also made an independent feature in Norman, Oklahoma directed by my favorite all time OU professor Ned Hockman). There are some stunts in this film, especially one by what must have been a real wild horse, that are as exciting and cogent as any Avengers picture today. This picture is highly rated and a collector’s item for any lover of the great Hollywood westerns of the 50s.

Also from Olive, is a treasure called The Shanghai Story, which, in 1954, was directed by one of the true giants of American cinema Frank Lloyd, he of the original Mutiny on the Bounty and now almost 20 years later toiling in “B” movies. The Shanghai Story is a distant cousin to Grand Hotel, with a disparate group of western expatriates held prisoner in a Shanghai hotel by the commies. In 90 minutes, this one covers it all and stars noir icon Edmond O’Brien, who that same year would win his Oscar for The Barefoot Contessa and Ruth Roman, a classic Hollywood beauty who had been in Strangers on a Train several years before and worked until her death in the late 70s. Also in this picture is an impossibly young Richard Jaeckel, one of Hollywood’s most reliable character actors.

Also available from Olive is Billy Wilder’s masterful Kiss Me Stupid, which would have been much better had original star Peter Sellers not have taken ill, Without a Clue, a terribly overlooked Sherlock Holmes comedy with Ben Kingsley and, again, a splendid Michael Caine and The Beat Generation, an oddball picture of all oddballs, with Steve Cochran, Ray Danton and Mamie Van Doren.

Our terrific friends at Twilight Time read my dreams. They keep releasing these marvelous Blu-ray extravaganzas in very, very limited qualities. Here’s one I must mention specifically.

The Fortune, I think, was considered a dud when it was hit theaters. It’s not. Talk about your all star team, this period piece, released in the mid 70s starred Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson, both never better, and was directed by Mike Nichols, who I still can’t believe isn’t with us anymore. If any copies of this comedy, which was never on VHS and never plays on TV, remain in the Twilight Time library, get your copy immediately while you still can.

This month Twilight Time makes available The Story of Adele H., Francois Truffaut’s fabulous tale of obsessive love, starring Isabelle Adjani; The Fantisticks, a wonderful transfer of the classic stage musical, directed by Michael Ritchie; a 1930s based Richard III, starring Ian McKellen, re creating his stage role with other cast Maggie Smith, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey Jr. and Annette Benning; Pat Boone and Shirley Jones in April Love, with a lovely score by Alfred Newman; Anthony Hopkins’ greatest film portrayal, as the butler Stevens in The Remains of the Day, with Emma Thompson and the legendary English character actor Peter Vaughan, still kicking at 92 and my personal favorite of the lot, the weirdo Zardoz directed by John Boorman and starring Sean Connery.

I’ve mentioned several westerns in this column and, if you are even remotely interested in their cinematic development and the novels upon which they are based, or actually any movie at all, look up my friend Cullen Gallagher. Get on Facebook with him and join the discussion. He and I usually talk… oh, maybe every night, but he’s a young man with both vision and understanding of how that vision was created. He has a wonderful website, pulpsernade.com that he should update more.

The big news today is that we’ve confirmed that Universal’s new Apollo 13: 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray will feature a brand new 4K high resolution remaster with DRS and color correction scanned from the original 35mm film negative. In addition to all the previous Blu-ray extras, the new edition will also feature Apollo 13: Twenty Years Later, an “all-new retrospective featuring exclusive interviews with director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer.” However (for those who may be wondering) there is no IMAX version and no Atmos mix. Audio is English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Dolby 2.0, plus French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese DTS Digital Surround 5.1. Note that this new film restoration is going to premiere theatrically on March 27 at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood. Click on the cover art below to pre-order the title on Amazon...

In other release news today, Starz and Anchor Bay have set Power: The Complete First Season for Blu-ray and DVD release on 5/12.

Also, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has set With This Ring for DVD only release on 6/2.

And Lionsgate has set A Most Violent Year for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/7.

Speaking of reviews, Warner’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and Paramount’s Interstellar are both now in hand, so watch for my own reviews of them in the next few days. [Read on here…]

In announcement news today, Warner Home Video has set the release Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice on Blu-ray and DVD for 4/28. The disc will include “Special Trailers” for Los Paranoias, Shasta Fay, The Golden Fang, and Everything in This Dream. SRP is $35.99 for BD and $28.98 for DVD. You can see the cover artwork to the left and also below.

Anchor Bay Entertainment has set Paddington for Blu-ray and DVD release on 4/28 as well.

Lionsgate has set Cymbeline for Blu-ray and DVD release on 5/19.

Scream Factory has announced a whole bunch of new Blu-ray titles, including Scarecrows (1988) on 6/2, double features of The Outing(1987)/The Godsend (1980) and Cellar Dweller (1998)/Catacombs (1998) on 7/14, along with Ghost Town (1998) on 7/28. Jack’s Back (1988) and Nomads (1986) are also on the way, but street dates are still TBA.

Twilight Time has revealed the specs and cover artwork for their April Blu-ray slate (all due on 4/14), which will include April Love (1957 – isolated score track; audio commentary with actors Pat Boone and Shirley Jones and film historian Nick Redman; original theatrical trailer), The Fantasticks (2000 – isolated score track; audio commentary with director Michael Ritchie; audio commentary with actress Jean Louisa Kelly and Broadway authority Bruce Kimmel; audio commentary with journalist Chris Willman and film historian Nick Redman, original cut of the film in Standard Definition; original theatrical trailer), The Remains of the Day (1993 – isolated score track; audio commentary with director James Ivory, producer Ismail Merchant and actress Emma Thompson; The Remains of the Day: The Filmmakers’ Journey; Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England’s Fatal Flaw; Love and Loyalty: The Making of The Remains of the Day; deleted scenes with optional director commentary; original theatrical trailer), Richard III (1995 – isolated score track; original theatrical trailer), The Story of Adèle H (1975 – isolated score track; audio commentary with film historians Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman; original theatrical trailer), and Zardoz (1974 – isolated score track; audio commentary with director John Boorman; audio commentary with film historians Jeff Bond, Joe Fordham and Nick Redman; radio spots; original theatrical trailer). All are editions limited to 3,000 units. Pre-orders open next Wednesday, 3/25, at 1 PM PST on Screen Archives Entertainment and TCM Shop. I have to say, Twilight has really been doing terrific work of late. Feast your eyes on their amazing cover artwork for Zardoz and The Fantasticks...!

Also today, Olive Films has set It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958), Flawless (1999), Peter Benchley’s Creature (1998), and Extremities (1986) for Blu-ray release on 5/19, with Yellowbeard (1983), Ski School (1990), and Erik the Viking (1989) set to follow on 5/26.

RLJ and Image have set Adam Green’s Digging Up the Marrow for Blu-ray and DVD release on 3/24.

We’ll leave you today with more new cover artwork. As always, clicking on the covers will take you to the Amazon pre-order pages for each title, if available (and ordering through our links helps support The Bits!)...

One other quick note: A lot of readers sent messages and e-mails while I was away. It’s going to take time to go through them all and reply, but we’ll get to them all as soon as possible. Thanks!

In release news today, Scream Factory has set a double feature BD of Ghosthouse and Witchery for BD release on 6/30. Also, Scream’s Dog Soldiers comes out on the format on 6/23, with a double feature of Tentacles and Reptilicus due on 6/16, and both Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers and Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland due on 6/9.

Blue Underground has Escape from the Bronx, 1990: The Bronx Warriors and The New Barbarians coming to Blu-ray and DVD on 6/30. The company has set Man, Pride and Vengeance for Blu-ray and DVD release on 5/26 as well.

Warner will also release Pretty Little Liars: The Complete Fifth Season on DVD only on 6/2.

In addition to First Men in the Moon and Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twilight’s 3/10 Blu-ray titles also include The Bounty, Solomon and Sheba and U-Turn.

Magnolia Home Entertainment releases the underwater thriller Pioneer on BD and DVD on 3/10.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release 50 to 1 on DVD and digital on 4/28.

Olive Films is bringing King of the Hill: The Complete Ninth Season and King of the Hill: The Complete Tenth Season to DVD only on 4/7.

PBS Distribution will release NOVA: Big Bang Machine and Nature: Penguin Post Office on DVD only on 3/17. NOVA: Building Wonders and Nature: Owl Power follow on 3/31.

Entertainment One has Outcast coming on BD, DVD and digital on 3/31, starring Nicolas Cage and Hayden Christensen.

Film Chest Media Group is releasing a “digitally restored” edition of the classic WWII documentary series Victory at Sea on DVD on 3/17. For the record, it’s presented in the original 4x3 aspect ratio.

Anchor Bay is releasing Halt and Catch Fire: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray, DVD and digital on 5/5.

And Well Go USA Entertainment will release Supremacy on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/21.

In other news today, I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that actor Harrison Ford crashed his vintage WWII aircraft in Santa Monica yesterday afternoon and was injured, though fortunately not seriously. It’ll take a lot more than engine failure to take out our man Dr. Jones. Though if they ever do make another Indy film, that plane wreckage would make a great Easter egg among all the crates of artifacts and treasures in the “Hangar 51” warehouse.

Finally today, in another bit of sad news for Star Trek fans, longtime film producer Harve Bennett has passed away. In addition to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Bennett also developed and produced TV’s The Mod Squad, and produced The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Gemini Man, and Salvage 1. He was 84. You can read more here at Variety.

We’ll leave you with more new Blu-ray cover art, featuring some of the titles mentioned above...

Sorry, I’ve not been here. I missed a bit – I’ll admit it and it for sure wasn’t to do with health or disinterest or a lack in passion. I just had to do stuff. But now I’m back.

But I come with good stories. Specifically regarding how movie awards season works. [Read on here...]

I learned a valuable lesson this year. I love the Oscars not for the telecast or the fashions or even really the stars. I want to watch because it’s American cultural history – a snapshot of our world at that moment the “Best Picture” award is given. And, like everyone else, I have my favorites and what I felt over time were disingenuous selections. Kramer vs. Kramer over Apocalypse Now? Dustin Hoffman in KvK over Peter Sellers in Being There? Sally Field over Bette Midler? And movies I find have no place alongside Casablanca, Gigi, In the Heat of the Night and Out of Africa such as A Beautiful Mind, The Artist and The King’s Speech?

I used to really care about that stuff.

Now I get it. These awards are not given to what will later be judged as the true best picture of that particular year. Remember, Raging Bull didn’t win “Best Picture.”

It’s all about the campaign. Here’s an example.

Early on in the fall I received a screener for the Warner Brothers’ prestige picture The Judge, starring Robert Downey, Robert Duvall and Billy Bob Thornton. I had already seen the movie in the theater and knew it for the dud it was. Robert Duvall is so precious to watch that I would nominate him for anything in which he appears. But this movie was so pedestrian that even could the acting legend save it; I would be hard pressed to nominate him at all since the movie was so crappy.

And in my mind, the race to watch this year is that of “Supporting Actor.” You have Ed Norton, J.K. Simmons, Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke plus several contenders like Tommy Lee Jones, Martin Short, Josh Brolin and others. All from cutting edge, potentially legendary movies. Then there’s The Judge and Robert Duvall.

First, I got the screener. For those of you who have never seen an awards screener, they come in a special package with a listing of who the studio feels should be nominated for any particular award, actually, it is now all contractual with the actors, directors and below the line specialists. So for The Judge it lists the producers to be nominated for “Best Picture,” Downey as “Best Actor,” and Duvall and Billy Bob in the “Supporting Actor” column. I blew them all off. The Judge was a wasted opportunity in my book.

But then I started getting calls, and emails and autographed posters and it was daily, non-stop. All campaigning for Duvall.

And sure enough, when the BFCA nominations came out, there he was. And he was there for every other awards show where nominations are given.

This isn’t against Robert Duvall at all. They should give him 20 Oscars.

You remember Albert Brooks in a terrific movie called Drive? He won every critics award but was shut out for an Oscar nomination No I know how idiotic things like that happen. Last year, the same thing happened to Robert Redford for All Is Lost.

Now, for this year’s movies, there have been some dandies. Here are the mini reviews that I do on KRXO radio here in Oklahoma City.

Whiplash

Like the driving rhythms of the big band jazz music it celebrates, Whiplash is brassy, bold, inventive and terribly fun. We’ve seen the plot before – young musician works his fingers to the bone, in this case, literally, to make it to the top. This picture carries more exuberance than any picture I’ve seen in yours. It is my sincere hope that it finds a wide audience and, perhaps the fact that J.K. Simmons as a ruthless music educator is a lock for a best supporting actor Oscar might give this little movie the recognition is deserves.

The Homesman

The Homesman is the most underrated movie of the past decade. Tommy Lee Jones directs and stars in this elegiac, leisurely paced, matter of fact western that offers twists and turns at every step. Of special recognition is Hilary Swank. A friend of mine once said that there are actors that should be retired from Oscar consideration – I think Swank and Jones both fit into this category. Based on a book by Glendon Swarthout, who also wrote The Shootist this is a movie that will for sure find its audience. A little masterpiece.

Foxcatcher

A National Enquirer story given a New Yorker treatment. And with an OU connection to boot – all seen through the eyes of Bennett Miller who, after Capote and Moneyball is slowly, quietly become one of America’s finest writer directors. This is a true crime story, to be sure, but it’s really about society and the American class system. Not to be missed

The Imitation Game

Blah, blah, blah. This WWII story, perhaps one of the most important of the 20th century is told with such sense of windbagedness that it almost becomes irrelevant. Everybody acts wonderfully, the story is told with great care and even it’s most lurid moments are so sanitized that you think you’re watching with the Queen. Not bad at all, some really like it and I certainly appreciate its intentions but, yawn.

Selma

I got this one not at all. Actually, it’s no better than a CBS TV Movie starring Ben Vereen and Art Carney. John Frankheimer’s Wallace mini-series told the story more effectively. Sort of ridiculous dialogue, plot miscues and absolutely nonsensical scenes. Let’s not mistake this exploitation picture for the real event. Let’s opt for a re-viewing of Malcom X instead.

Nightcrawler

A massive indictment of the American media. We’re talking comparisons to Network here. Jake Gyllenhall plays what turns out to be an obsequious male component of the Faye Dunaway character in that classic 1976 Sidney Lumet film. Satire is on the plate here and it’s a full course meal.

American Sniper

An all American flag waver, and yet another tribute to the skills, the incomparable skills of Clint Eastwood as a consummate filmmaker. This movie was rushed into production and there are times that it is apparent, but one has to marvel at its construction, pacing and sense of purpose. So what if the fake baby is a tad too obvious? Steven Spielberg had been scheduled to direct and one can only imagine the sentimental slop he would have made of this material

Inherent Vice

The fist movie you’ll ever walk out of with a contact high. This loopy, paranoid, sexually deviant nod to both the California coast at the time and the classic Raymond Chandler private detective story is one for the ages in the eyes of this reviewer. There are those I’m sure who would call this “Incoherent Vice” as the plot details remind us of the Bob Segar classic Night Moves. Working on mysteries without any clues.”

Birdman

So original, fast and thrilling, one is prompted to watch it twice a day. With its rat a tat tat soundtrack, a frenetic show stopping performance by Michael Keaton and a whole slew of maniacs running around backstage like they were in a third rate touring company of Noises Off, you’ll need to take a downer after the final credits. There’s more energy, creativity and insight into the dynamic business that is show than any 100 movies. A keeper for the ages.

Still Alice

TV movie claptrap. After magnificent contributions to films from Short Cuts to End of the Affair to especially Far From Heaven this is for what Julienne Moore wins an Oscar?

Into the Woods

Sublime. This film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical is a treasure and a box office hit to boot. Of the perfect cast, Emily Blunt hits the highest note, but it’s all good, all wonderful.

Here’s my general state of the union messaging regarding the release of classic films on home video – we’re living in a renaissance. It all, I’m sure, comes down to the bottom line – these titles are selling, however, it always does take somewhat of a leap of faith in the constant struggle between art and commerce, to do the right thing by these sometimes lost pieces of the world cultural puzzle.

New on Blu-ray and DVD

The fine folks at Olive Films have gone into overdrive, releasing a slew of rare classics that come to us as a gift from heaven.

Track the Man Down, from 1955, is a splendid and totally lost crime film, directed by R.G. “Buddy” Springsteen (who was, by the way, Dale Robertson’s favorite director ever.) This picture stars Broadway legend George Rose and British music icon Petulia Clark and it’s a monster find.

The Woman They Almost Lynched, is a western directed by the late Allan Dwan and starring these champion “B” actors Joan Leslie, Brian Donlevy, Audrey Totter and John Lund.

World For Ransom, which is somewhat of a minor classic, directed by legendary filmmaker Robert Aldrich and starring Dan Duryea and, yes, Nigel Bruce. World For Ransom is an absolute must see.

Coming soon from Olive are titles such as Without a Clue, one of my favorite comedies, with Ben Kinglsey and Michael Caine (if you haven’t seen this one, you’re missing a delight); Billy Wilder’s infamous Kiss Me Stupid with Dean Martin; The Night They Raided Minsky’s, with Jason Robards and Britt Eckland and Best Seller, starring James Woods and Brian Dennehy.

Twilight Time –This company is absolutely firing on all cylinders, putting out so many lost and deserted classics to pristine Blu-ray that it defies imagination.

First of all, I have to personally thank my friends at TT for releasing what I think is a lost masterpiece of 70s comedy – The Fortune, directed by Mike Nichols and starring no less than Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty. How can this be lost? No idea but it’s damn funny – I saw it in the theater like ten times. If you don’t know it, The Fortune as good as you would hope it would be.

Another personal favorite – Otto Preminger’s Bunny Lake is Missing an absolutely terrifying thriller from the early sixties that features a rare, non showy lead role for Olivier, which would make this worth watching even if one weren’t trying to figure out the ending. This is a must see.

Also among Twilight Time’s new releases are the Elvis Presley/Don Siegel western Flaming Star, The Twilight Samurai, the animated masterpiece When the Wind Blows, Stanley Kramer’s massive Judgment at Nuremberg, which still shocks after some 50 years and John Frankenheimer’s Birdman of Alcatraz, which features perhaps Burt Lancaster’s greatest role along with, wearing hair, Telly Savalas.

Remember Twilight Time movies are in stunning, restored Blu-ray and only 3,000 copies of each are made. Go to screenarchives.com and, as well, like twlighttimemovies on Facebook.

I must also include a “must see” from screenarchives.com

Redwind Productions in association with Cinerama brings us for the very first time, a lost and remastered 70mm treat – Michael Todd Jr’s Holiday in Spain, which stars Peter Lorre, Paul Lukas and Denhom Elliot. Wow! Originally titled Scent of Mystery, this movie was released in Smell of Vision. Sounds like John Waters’ Polyester! This movie has been considered lost for 50 years!

Warner Archive sort of settled down their rampaging release schedule, turning instead to some of Warner Brothers’ early DVD releases and fixing their aspect ratios and other restorations – titles here include The Man With Two Brains.

Other new releases include some Spencer Tracy/Jimmy Stewart early talkies, including The Murder Man; The Wild Affair a comedy with Terry-Thomas and Nancy Kawn and Born Reckless, with Mamie Van Doren!

Go to warnerarchive.com – their new releases come up every Tuesday

Here’s a personal favorite from SHOUT! factory – the complete 1968 Live at Boston Garden James Brown concert as depicted, in part, in the singer’s new biopic, Get On Up. I got to see the “Godfather of Soul” twice and met him once and am an unabashed fan. How about this? In Oklahoma City, we have an actual living, breathing Bittersweet!

Also from SHOUT! is the complete series of Sergeant Bilko/The Phil Silvers Show – this series was lost to me – the reruns never played when I was a kid – but they’re hilarious.

And I must also mention UHF, cult movie of all cult movies, starring “Weird” Al Yankovic and produced by Oklahoma’s own Gray Frederickson. This movie was filmed in Tulsa.

Visit shoutfactory.com for other titles.

Finally, Flicker Alley has released a honest to goodness true oddity – Search for Paradise and Seven Wonders of the World, both made for Cinerama, the three projection wide screen process which was also employed by How the West Was Won and 2001. These Blu-rays have extras out the wazoo and are for sure keepers.

Flickeralley.com – I must, before we move on, mention a new novel called The Long and Faraway Gone, written by my friend Lou Berney and set all in Oklahoma City. Seriously, how does one tell a good friend they have written one of the great books of all time? Without it sounding sycophantic? This book has already won rare raves from both Publishers Weekly and Kirkus and is already the Amazon “Book of the Month” for February. I promise you will love this book. I’m holding out for a decent part when the movie is cast!

We’ve got a bunch more announcement news for you today, so let’s get right into it.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just set Whiplash for Blu-ray and DVD release on 2/24.

Sony has also set The Red Tent for DVD only release on 3/10 and The Song for DVD only release on 2/10.

Also, Sony’s The Interview: Freedom Edition Blu-ray and DVD (due 2/17) will officially include audio commentary with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and the Naked and Afraid Discovery channel special featuring Rogen and James Franco. To this, the Blu-ray will exclusively add a gag reel, Line-o-Ramas, deleted, extended, and alternate scenes, and 8 featurettes (Directors of This Movie, Puppy Power, Here Kitty Kitty, Joking Around, Spies Among Us, Randall Park Audition Tape, Dating a Dictator, and Getting Into Character). [Read on here…]

Universal is re-releasing Fast & Furious 6 on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on 3/24, along with a new Fast & Furious 1-6 Collection: Limited Edition on Blu-ray that comes in tire packaging (SRP $69.98 but Amazon has it for $48.99).

Anchor Bay Entertainment will release Muck on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/17.

Anchor Bay will also release AMC’s Turn: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/17.

And Anchor Bay will release St. Vincent on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/17 as well, starring Bill Murray, Naomi Watts, and Melissa McCarthy.

Alain Resnais’ Life of Riley is coming on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/10 from Kino Lorber.

Barry Levinson’s The Humbling, starring Al Pacino, Dianne Weist and Greta Gerwig, is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on 3/3 from Millennium Entertainment.

Millennium Entertainment will also release Ninja and Ninja 2: Shadow of a Tear in a Blu-ray double feature on 3/10.

Scream Factory’s Dog Soldiers: Collector’s Edition is still coming on Blu-ray/DVD Combo, but the title has been pushed back to 6/23 (from 3/10). Adjust your plans accordingly.

Meanwhile, Warner Home Video has set The Mentalist: The Complete Seventh and Final Season for DVD only release on 4/28.

Our friends over at the Warner Archive Collection have just made available a ton of great new titles, including Sinner’s Holiday (1930), New Faces of 1937 (1937), RKO Double Feature: Old Man Rhythm/To Beat the Band (1935), The RKO Brown & Carney Comedy Collection (1943-44, 1946), All Neat in Black Stockings (1969), Panic Button (1963), Kill or Cure (1962), Ratboy (1986), and Dumb and Dumber: The Animated Series (1995-96). They’ve also announced that The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997), Palmetto (1997), and Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) are all now back in print.

Well Go USA Entertainment will release Let’s Kill Ward’s Wife on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/3.

Big World Pictures has set Marcelo Gomes’ Once Upon a Time Veronica for DVD on 2/3.

PBS Distribution will release the CNN original series The Sixties on DVD on 2/17, produced by Tom Hanks.

Finally, our friends at Twilight Time have announced the details of their 2/10 Blu-ray slate as follows: Lenny (includes isolated music & effects track, audio commentary with film historians Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman, and the original theatrical trailer), Love and Death (includes isolated music & effects track and the original theatrical trailer), The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (includes isolated score track, the Roger Corman Remembers and Fox Movietone News featurettes, and the original theatrical trailer), Stormy Weather (includes isolated score track and audio commentary with Dr. Todd Boyd, Professor of Critical Studies, USC), and To Sir, With Love (includes isolated score track, audio commentary with actress Judy Geeson, and film historians Nick Redman and Julie Kirgo, audio commentary with author E.R. Braithwaite and author/teacher Salome Thomas El, the E.R. Braithwaite: In His Own Words, Lulu and the B-Side, Miniskirts, Blue Jeans and Pop Music, To Sidney with Love, and Principal El: He Chose to Stay featurettes, and the original theatrical trailer).

Here’s a look at some of the titles mentioned above, with pre-order links (if available)…

One quick bit of announcement news today: Well Go USA has officially announced Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem for Blu-ray and DVD release on 1/20 (SRP $29.98 and $24.98). Extras will include 4 featurettes (Behind the Scenes, The Visual Effects, The Costumes, and The Sets).

Now then... the main reason for today’s early post on The Bits is unfortunately this: Legendary Hollywood TV producer Glen A. Larson has passed away. As sci-fi fans will no doubt be aware, Larson was the creator of the original Battlestar Galactica (which we recently confirmed with Universal is coming to Blu-ray in early 2015). But he also created, co-created and/or produced many other fan favorite TV series from the 70s and 80s, including Magnum P.I., Knight Rider, Quincy M.E., The Six Million Dollar Man, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Galactica 1980, The Fall Guy, B.J. and the Bear, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Switch, Alias Smith & Jones, Manimal, Automan, The Highwayman, and many more. Larson passed away on Friday after a battle with cancer. He was 77. We tip our caps today in his honor. You can read more here at The Hollywood Reporter.

We might be back later with more, pending any breaking news of consequence, but we’ll return tomorrow for sure reviews of the new Hayao Miyazaki Blu-rays from Disney and Touchstone, including The Wind Rises.

We’ve got a couple interesting things to report today in terms of new title announcements.

The big one is that Warner Home Video has set a new version of Gravity for Blu-ray release in February. You can see the cover artwork above and below (where it’s already up for pre-order on Amazon). The Gravity: Diamond Luxe Edition is a 2-disc set due to street on 2/10/15 (SRP $24.98). What we know for sure is that you should get all existing special features as well as 3 new bonus features. The only confirmed new bonus feature is the Silent Space Version of the film, presented without music. The disc will also include a Dolby Atmos sound mix for those of you with new Atmos compatible audio hardware. If this edition sells well, it’s possible Warner could release additional recent titles on Blu-ray with Atmos – Man of Steel, Edge of Tomorrow, Pacific Rim, the Hobbit films – these have all been released with Atmos mixes in theaters.

While we’re talking Warner, the studio has also set The Good Lie for Blu-ray Combo release on 12/23 (SRP $26.04), with deleted scenes and The Good Lie Journey featurette.

Warner has also announced Annabelle for Blu-ray Combo release on 1/13/15 (SRP $35.99), including deleted scenes and 4 featurettes (The Curse of Annabelle, Bloody Tears of Possession, Dolls of the Demon, and A Demonic Process).

Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has set The Drop for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 1/20. The film stars Tom Hardy and the late James Gandolfini. Extras will include deleted scenes, 5 promotional featurettes, and audio commentary by Michael R. Roskam and Dennis Lehane.

HBO has set the Olive Kitteridge miniseries for Blu-ray release on 2/10/15 (SRP $49.99). See the cover artwork below.

Paramount has set Broad City: Season One for DVD release on 122/2 (SRP $26.99). Extras will include outtakes, deleted scenes, a video commentary, a photo gallery, and a Map of Broad City drawn by Abbi.

Twilight Time has released cover artwork and details on the extras for their December slate of Blu-ray titles (due on 12/9 and available for pre-order on Screen Archives Entertainment starting on 11/19). They’ll include: The Fortune (includes isolated score track), Funny Lady (includes the In Search of a Star featurette and the original theatrical trailer), Heaven & Earth (includes audio commentary with director Oliver Stone, deleted scenes with optional director commentary, and alternate opening with score from Kitaro, and the film’s original theatrical trailer), Inherit the Wind (includes an isolated music & effects track and the original theatrical trailer), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (includes audio commentary by director Ronald Neame and actress Pamela Franklin, and isolated music & effects track, and the original theatrical trailer), and finally Yentl (which is packed with the Director’s Extended Cut of the film and the Theatrical Version, an introduction by Barbra Streisand, audio commentary by Barbra Streisand and co-producer Rusty Lemorande, deleted scenes, and introduction to the special features by Streisand, The Director’s Reel featurette, The Rehearsal Process with Materials from Barbra’s Archives, the My Wonderful Cast and Crew featurette, Deleted Song Storyboard Sequences, Barbra’s 8mm Concept Film with optional narration, still galleries, and theatrical trailers). Here’s a look at the cover artwork. Clicking on the covers will take you to Screen Archives Entertainment…

Image Entertainment will release the original Broadway production of Into the Woods on Blu-ray on 12/2 (SRP $24.98).

And Universal has set Kull the Conqueror and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story for Blu-ray release on 2/3/15.

We’ll leave you today with more new Blu-ray cover artwork, including the new Gravity: Diamond Luxe Edition, Olive Kitteridge and more. Clicking on these covers will take you to the Amazon pre-order pages if available…

I’ve gotten a hoot out of it – have loved reconnecting with high school friends and long lost family and have discovered as well that there are people in the world with pages dedicated to interests close to my heart, such as those kept by my favorite authors, pictures of the New York I loved in the 70s and 80s and tributes to great character actors such as Timothy Carey. [Read on here...]

And then there are the games, which are far over my head, and the questions such as how many of the top 100 movies have you seen? (I was 99 because I still haven’t seen the Lord of the Rings) or what character from The Waltons I most resemble.

Recently however, a longtime friend challenged me to answer this question – “What movie changed the way I look at life?”

That got me. It’s a good question. I think it’s safe to say, at least in my case, that movies, and, to a lesser extent, at least at that time in my life, television, were perhaps the strongest cultural influence to which a kid from Purcell, Oklahoma was exposed. Television programming was such that local stations ran old pictures all the time, we had a local theater and a drive in and I had access to big city first run houses as well.

I sat down and worked hard on this list, mostly for myself. And, if this is indeed correct, it looks like movies stopped taking on a substantial role in my life as I was entering college.

Take this exercise yourself and send me a copy. What better way to get to know each other?

These are alphabetical:

Ace in the Hole – I became a journalism major after seeing this movie – I wanted to be Chuck Tatum (regally played by Kirk Douglas), not the drunk, loutish, has been Chuck Tatum, but the guy who could sit down at an old Underwood a pop out a coherent story in minutes. I’m still trying to accomplish that. Of course, this movie offers a pivotal example of Billy Wilder cynicism and, for better or worse, that has stayed with me as well.

Blazing Saddles – The first R rated movie to which I was ever allowed to see with my parents. Race jokes? Fart jokes? Endowment jokes? Crudity, even at that time in my life, didn’t appeal to me – and it isn’t necessarily the specific jokes that made laugh, although I quote it all the time – I love this picture’s unrepentant naughtiness and the unapologetic manner in which it is delivered. I had never seen anything like it and, if you think about it, what has topped it since?

Duck Soup – Do I need to explain this? Absurdist humor, gleeful patter and Harpo swimming in that lemonade tub. Every time I watch I catch something new – Groucho, in the middle of the final climactic battle, takes a boater off a hat rack and says “This is the last straw!” I try to be Groucho every day of the week. And fail.

It’s a Gift – Is W.C. Fields forgotten? I remember during a 1970s renaissance of the irascible writer/actor, Walter Matthau, no slouch himself, called Fields the silver screen’s greatest comedian. From Fields, one understands the comic potential of domesticity, society and family. And, in this instance, a blind man and some light bulbs.

Sleeper – I was with my family to see this “G” rated comedy. And, when Woody Allen is being spoon fed upon his awakening in the new century, my father was doubled over. I’d never seen that before. When people tell me they don’t like Woody Allen, I’ll deliberately quote lines from this.

Pinocchio – Come on, watch it and don’t cry. Fathers and sons, pure hearts, true friendship and life affirmation. I only read later that the movie represents the penultimate of Disney’s hand drawn craftsmanship. Actually, when people ask my favorite song, I always say “When You Wish Upon a Star.” Real life should be like this.

True Grit – Heroism. Redemption. Humor. American determinism and southwestern chivalry. And John Wayne. I have never investigated this, but True Grit was released in 1969 with an “M” rating which during, in its year-long year run, was changed to a “G.” Check the posters! An adult film that kids loved. Of course, the book would introduce me to the written words of Charles Portis, my favorite author. I still quote it.

Twilight’s Last Gleaming – This slot could be filled with The Parallax View, The Manchurian Candidate, or Three Days of the Condor. They are all paranoid grown up thrillers, but somehow this Robert Aldrich/Burt Lancaster collaboration from 1977 carried the idea that there were darker forces at work in America the furthest. It blew me away. It isn’t been seen or discussed much anymore, and I think it has been held back deliberately because of its jaw dropping ending, although very recently Olive Films released a fabulous Blu-ray. This one not for the faint of heart.

Way Out West – Suppose the whole world had to stop for one hour per year and watch this movie together? While other American comedies have found translation rough going, Laurel and Hardy spread happy malfeasance to the darkest corners of the globe. And, of course, if that wasn’t enough, Stan and Ollie stop in the middle of the proceedings to perform a two or three minute dance that is my favorite scene in any movie anywhere.

A Wedding – I knew that everyday life was funny from a young age, but A Wedding was a major revelation as it validated to me that we were all in one big comedy, No movie ever influenced me more and, from that time, I was first in line to every Robert Altman movie that followed. Some say he translated his message better with Nashville and MASH but this one I saw with the two dearest friends I’ll ever have and the light bulb, in 1978, went off over all our heads.

I’m dying to read your lists – I’ll print them here.

Available on Disc

For years Film Comment ran a column in which a director or actor would list their “Guilty Pleasures” movies that were remembered fondly even though they pretty much stank on ice. This 1976 remake of the Howard Hawks/Humphrey Bogart classic is totally wrongheaded from the outset, Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles transplanted to jolly old London? Nuts. But here’s the deal, Marlowe was played, as was he in 1974’s period masterpiece Farewell, My Lovely, by Robert Mitchum, with that fabulous hair and weathered face and cynical delivery and it’s such joy to see this lion in winter that you can’t stop watching. There’s also a lot of nudity from Oklahoma’s own Candy Clark and Richard Boone, who never made enough movies for me, plays Lash Kanino and Oliver Reed and James Stewart show up and I saw it in the theater about five times. The Big Sleep is out on DVD from Timeless Media.

Every week Warner Archive releases absolute treasures and I can’t wait to see what’s next. Several lately are worth mentioning. In 1970, MGM released a film version of Elmore Leonard’s novel The Moonshine War, starring those two bastions of southern acting Alan Alda and Patrick McGoohan. It was a major flop and was never on TV or VHS. Finally, WA released this gem and, surprise, it’s pretty wonderful. Leonard’s standard plot and characters remain righteous to the book and Richard Widmark becomes of the great Leonard bad guys of all time, and playing his equally odious partner in crime is the Lee Hazelwood, Oklahoma’s own, who maybe never was in a movie again.

Three years later, MGM went to the hillbilly well again with a picture called Lolly Madonna XXX. Now this I saw in the theaters and it holds up well, and what a cast – Robert Ryan, Rod Steiger, Season Hubley and a very young Oklahoma boy named Gary Busey.

Also from Warner Archive is another treasure rarely on TV and never on VHS. It’s called The Lusty Men and it’s a sort of rodeo noir directed by the great Nicholas Ray and starring Mitchum, again, and Susan Hayward. This is a terrific lost movie and kudos to Warner Archive for its release. WA also recently put Out of the Past on Blu-ray as well!

Those of us who love our classic films just can’t wait for the next wave from Twilight Time monthly releases again – all restored in marvelous Blu-ray. First and foremost is Sam Peckinpah’s The Killer Elite, starring James Caan and Robert Duvall. TT co founder Nick Redmond is a Peckinpah genius and his contribution to this disc is essential.

Also from TT is the home video debut of an oddball picture from the 70s Che, about that Che, starring Jack Palance, one of the world’s great South American actors directed by that noted ethnic Richard Fleischer. Actually, it’s very engaging. Also on the slate this month Salvador, an important picture from Oliver Stone that unleashed James Woods on an unsuspecting audience.

I’ve always said that Frederick Forsyth was an author well treated by the movies, from The Day of the Jackal, to The Fourth Protocol; TT this month releases the author’s The Dogs of War, a crackerjack movie starring Christopher Walken and directed by John Irvin.

Finally, Lou Diamond Phillips played Richie Valens in La Bamba, which is painstaking restored by Twilight Time as well.

What do you remember about The Midnight Special? I think back to Friday nights, when it aired weekly, and the fabulous music it featured. Remember the first ever video that aired, Elton John and Kiki Dee singing “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart?” The entire set is now available from Time Life Home Video and is a must own.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s glorious Cinderella is currently selling out the Broadway Theater in New York but most of us of a certain age remember falling in love with a young, beautiful Lesley Ann Warren in the title role. The Shout! Factory has released this version on a wonderful DVD and it is both nostalgic and cogent at the same time.

Finally, the Cohen Media Group has released Nightcap, a late masterpiece from the French Hitchcock Claude Chabrol. It’s killer.

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to like TheDigitalBits.com page on Facebook for great Blu-ray, DVD and film discussion with other readers and for live updates on your mobile device when new content is posted here!]

Now then... in announcement news today, here’s something interesting: Universal has set Charlie Wilson’s War, The Constant Gardner, and The Good Shepherd for Blu-ray release on 1/6/15. All should contain the same extras that were on the previous DVD releases.

Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox has just officially announced The Strain: The Complete First Season for Blu-ray and DVD release on 12/2, followed by The Americans: The Complete Second Season on 12/16. Disappointingly, The Americans is a DVD only release. Let me just say what you’re all thinking: LAME! Features on The Strain will include 3 featurettes (In the Beginning, A Novel Approach, and Setrakian’s Lair). The Strain will include deleted scenes, a gag reel, and 2 featurettes (Operation Ghost Stories: The Real Directorate ‘S’ and Shades of Red: The Mortality of the Americans).

Well Go USA Entertainment has set Dead Snow 2: Red vs Dead for Blu-ray and DVD release on 12/9. It will include the international version of the film.

Finally today, Twilight Time has released special features details and cover artwork on a number of their upcoming Blu-ray titles, due to street on 11/11 (pre-orders on Screen Archives Entertainment open up on Wednesday, 10/22 at 1 PM Pacific). Specific titles and extras include: Birdman of Alcatraz (includes an isolated score track, audio commentary with film historians Julie Kirgo, Paul Seydor and Nick Redman, and the theatrical trailer), Bunny Lake Is Missing (includes an isolated score track, audio commentary with film historians Julie Kirgo, Lem Dobbs and Nick Redman, and original theatrical trailers), Flaming Star (includes an isolated score track, audio commentary with film historians Lem Dobbs and Nick Redman, and original theatrical trailers), Judgment at Nuremberg (includes an isolated music & effects track, 3 featurettes (In Conversation with Abby Mann and Maximilian Schell, The Value of a Single Human Being, and A Tribute to Stanley Kramer), and the theatrical trailer), The Twilight Samurai (includes an isolated score track and original theatrical trailers), and When the Wind Blows (includes an isolated music & effects track, audio commentary with first assistant editor Joe Fordham and film historian Nick Redman, and 2 featurettes (The Wind and the Bomb: The Making of When the Wind Blows and An Interview with Raymond Briggs).

We’ll leave you today with a bunch of new cover artwork for some of the titles mentioned above…

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to like TheDigitalBits.com page on Facebook for great Blu-ray, DVD and film discussion with other readers and for live updates on your mobile device when new content is posted here!]

In announcement news, really the biggest bit of news isn’t actually disc related. Well, at least not YET anyway. David Lynch, Mark Frost, and Showtime have announced that they’re bringing Twin Peaks back to TV as a 9-episode Showtime limited series in 2016. Every episode will be directed by Lynch personally. Here’s the official “announcement” trailer...

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I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised given how supportive CBS has been of the Blu-ray release. Makes perfect sense. I’m not sure that the show needs a continuation, but that’s how such things go these days, so best that the original creators are directly involved. Fingers crossed it will meet expectations.

In title announcement news today, Warner Home Video has set Into the Storm for Blu-ray, DVD, and digital release on 11/18 (SRP $35.99 and $28.98 for the discs). Extras will include a trio of featurettes (Into the Storm: Tornado Files, Titus: The Ultimate Chasing Vehicle, and Fake Storms: Real Conditions).

Anchor Bay and Starz have set Black Sails: The Complete First Season for Blu-ray, DVD, and digital release on 1/6/15 (SRP $59.99 and $49.98 for the discs). All 8 episodes will be included, along with 6 featurettes (Black Sails: A Look Inside, Dress to Kill, Pirate Camp, Folklore Is Finished: Pirate Politics, A Place in History, and Building the Behemoth).

And here’s something awesome: Our friends at Twilight Time have announced their anticipated Blu-ray release slate for November and December, as well as January and February of 2015, and it includes some real gems. On 11/11, look for Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), When the Wind Blows (1986 – with Jimmy Murakami: Non-Alien – 2010), Flaming Star (1960), Bunny Lake is Missing (1965), and one of my all-time favorites, The Twilight Samurai (2002). On 12/9, look for Yentl (1983), Funny Lady (1975), Inherit the Wind (1960), Heaven and Earth (1993), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1968), and The Fortune (1975). On 1/20, look for The Bride Wore Black (1968), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Breaking Away (1979), a Fright Night: 30th Anniversary Special Edition (1985), and Bandit Queen (1994). On 2/10, watch for Lenny (1974), Love and Death (1975), The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967), Stormy Weather (1943), and To Sir, with Love (1967). Finally, on 2/24, look for Zardoz (1974). THAT... is a terrific slate of catalog titles. Absolutely something for everyone, including some rare gems and cult classics.

Now then... we also have today an updated statement from Criterion on their potentially defective discs situation. Here’s the deal...

“We have confirmed that certain Blu-ray discs pressed at a replication facility that we used for a period in 2010 have become defective, showing a noticeable bronze discoloration on the underside and developing playback problems. We have confirmed the problem on seven titles, but not on all copies. All of these titles have since been re-pressed at a different pressing plant, and the vast majority of discs in circulation should not be affected.

If you have found that your Blu-ray copy of one of these titles does not play, please send your disc in to the following address for a replacement: Jon Mulvaney – The Criterion Collection, 215 Park Avenue South, 5th floor, New York, NY 10003

Please include only your disc – no packaging – along with the address to which you’d like us to mail your replacement. We will not be replacing or exchanging packaging. There is no need to email us in addition. If we learn that other titles are similarly defective, we will add them to the list and continue to replace them as well. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

So there you have it. If they add more discs to this list, we’ll keep you updated.

Finally today, we’ve have some new BD cover artwork for you to check out (with Amazon.com pre-order links as always) including a look at FUNimation’s regular Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series BD packaging. Here you go...

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to like TheDigitalBits.com page on Facebook for great Blu-ray, DVD and film discussion with other readers and for live updates on your mobile device when new content is posted here!]

We’ve got a bunch of stuff for you to enjoy here at The Bits today, starting with a trio of new columns here at the site.

Now then… in announcement news, our friends at Twilight Time have announced FIVE new catalog Blu-ray titles for release on 10/14 in limited editions. They include Audrey Rose (includes an isolated score track and the original trailer), The Believers (includes an isolated score track and the original trailer), The Blob (1988 – includes audio commentary with director Chuck Russell and film historian Ryan Turek, an isolated score track, the Friday Night Frights at The Cinefamily featurette, and the original trailer), Under Fire (includes an isolated score track (with some effects), audio commentary with director Roger Spottiswoode, assistant editor Paul Seydor, photo-journalist Matthew Naythons, and film historian Nick Redman, a second audio commentary with music mixer-producer Bruce Botnick, music editor Kenny Hall, and film historians Jeff Bond, Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman, the Joanna Cassidy Remembers Under Fire featurette, excerpts from the Matthew Naythons Photo Archive, and the original theatrical trailer), and The Vanishing (1993 – includes an isolated score track and the original trailer). All will be available in editions of 3,000 each, save for The Blob which will be available in a run of 5,000 units. Each of these titles will become available for pre-order at Screen Archives Entertainment on 9/24 at 1 PM Pacific. You can see some of the cover artwork below.

Meanwhile, Olive has announced the 11/18 Blu-ray and DVD release of director Robert Altman’s Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (SRP $39.95 and $34.95). Extras will include an exclusive videotaped interview with playwright and screenwriter Ed Graczyk. You can see the BD cover artwork below.

Meanwhile, Shout! Factory has set The Jeffersons: The Complete Series – The Deee-luxe Edition for DVD release on 12/9. The 33-disc box set will include all 253 episodes from the show’s 11 seasons, plus the Movin’ On Up : The Jeffersons featurette, the All in the Family episode The Jeffersons Move Up, the E/R Pilot (from the 1984 TV series E/R, starring Elliott Gould and featuring Sherman Hemsley guest-starring as George Jefferson), and an essay by TV critic Tom Shales.

Paramount has revealed that their new White Christmas: Diamond Anniversary Edition (due on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/4) will offer all new special features including 5 classic Christmas TV appearances by Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye (including a virtual duet between Crosby and Michael Bublé), an optional sing-along subtitle track to the film’s most popular songs, new photo galleries, and a Christmas CD with 12 songs featuring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee and Judy Garland, including 8 never-before-released tracks. You'll also get the previously released special features including audio commentary by Rosemary Clooney, backstage stories, featurettes on Crosby, Kaye and Clooney, and more. See the cover art above and below.

Lionsgate has set the thriller Locked In for DVD only release on 10/14.

FUNimation has set Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods for Blu-ray and DVD release on 10/7.

Arc Entertainment will release Ava and Lala on DVD only on 10/7. The film stars Tom Arnold, JK Simmons, Mira Sorvino, and George Takei.

And finally, on the music front, Eagle Rock Entertainment has announced a new series of Rolling Stones: From the Vaults “SD Blu-ray,” DVD and CD releases coming this November. These are rare concert films from the band that have been newly-restored and include additional archive material. The first to be released are From the Vault: Hampton Coliseum – Live in 1981 on 11/4, followed by From the Vault: L.A. Forum – Live in 1975 on 11/18. You can read more on this here on Eagle Rock’s Facebook page.

Here’s a look at the cover artwork for some of the titles we’ve mentioned above, along with pre-order links if available…

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to like TheDigitalBits.com page on Facebook for great Blu-ray, DVD and film discussion with other readers and for live updates on your mobile device when new content is posted here!]

Today’s post is a quick one, as I have family visiting this weekend. However, we do have a couple things for you today…

In announcement news, 20th Century Fox has finally revealed the details of its forthcoming Alien: 35th Anniversary Edition and Kingdom of Heaven: Ultimate Edition, both classic Ridley Scott films, due in stores on 10/7 (SRP $24.99 each).

The Alien: 35th Anniversary Edition includes both the 1979 theatrical version and 2003 director’s cuts, along with audio commentary by director Ridley Scott, and members of the cast and crew, a second audio commentary by Scott (on the theatrical cut only), an introduction by Scott (on the director’s cut only), the final theatrical isolated score by Jerry Goldsmith, the composer’s original isolated score, deleted and extended scenes, a digital version, a reprint of the original Alien Illustrated comic and a set of collectible H.R. Giger tribute art cards. Note that it doesn’t include the documentary extras from the Alien Anthology Blu-ray set produced by Charles de Lauzirika.

The Kingdom of Heaven: Ultimate Edition on the other hand, is a 2-disc set that includes all three versions of the film – the theatrical cut, the director’s cut, and the Roadshow Version of the director’s cut that was on the previous 4-disc DVD set. You also get 9 hours of extras (also produced by Charles de Lauzirika), including an introduction by director Ridley Scott, the Pilgrim’s Guide trivia track, the Engineer’s Guide trivia track, commentary on the Roadshow version by Orlando Bloom, Ridley Scott and writer William Monahan, The Path to Redemption documentary, a Sound Design Suite, Visual Effects Breakdowns, the Press Junket Walkthrough, World Premiere footage, galleries of special shoot photos and poster explorations, A&E Movie Real, History vs. Hollywood, Orlando Bloom: The Adventure of a Lifetime, additional featurettes, and more. Essentially, it appears to include just about everything that was on the previous theatrical and special edition DVDs. Here’s a look at the final cover artwork for both versions…

Finally today, we’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of veteran character actor Richard Kiel. He played the alien in the classic Twilight Zone episode To Serve Man, he appeared in such films as Force 10 from Navarone, Pale Rider, and The Longest Yard, he was a regular on TV in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, and he even did videogame voice work. But it’s as the chrome-toothed villain Jaws in the Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker that he’ll be best remembered by audiences. Kiel was 74. You can read more here at The New York Times.

All right, we’ve got a bit of ground to cover here at The Bits today. There’s quite a bit of release news to report.

First up, Warner Home Video has announced the Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo, DVD, and Digital release of Edge of Tomorrow on 10/7 (SRP $44.95, $35.99, and $28.98 for the discs). Extras on the Blu-ray versions will include deleted scenes, 5 featurettes (Operation Downfall – Adrenaline Cut, Storming the Beach, Weapons of the Future, Creatures Not of This World, and On the Edge with Doug Liman), and the usual digital copy options. [Read on here…]

Warner has also announced the 11/11 release of a new Batman: 25th Anniversary Two-Disc Edition Blu-ray in “Diamond Luxe” packaging (SRP $24.98). It’s not clear from the press release whether all of the previous special features carry over to this new edition, but there is at least one new feature: The Batman: The Birth of the Modern Blockbuster featurette on the film’s marketing and merchandising.

20th Century Fox is also getting in on the catalog anniversary edition action on 9/9 with a brand new Young Frankenstein: 40th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray. Extras will include audio commentary with director Mel Brooks, interviews with stars Marty Feldman, Gene Wilder, and Cloris Leachman, deleted scenes and outtakes, production photo galleries, the Blucher Button, 4 featurettes (Inside the Lab: Secret Formulas to the Making of Young Frankenstein, It’s Alive: Creating a Monster Classic, Making FrankenSense of Young Frankenstein, and Transylvanian Lullaby: The Music of John Norris), and more. And starting on 9/1, if you visit the YoungFrankSweeps.com website (it’s not up yet), you’ll be able to enter for a chance to win one of 40 set photos signed by Brooks himself. You can see the cover artwork below.

Meanwhile, MGM will release Vikings: The Complete Second Season on Blu-ray on 10/7 (SRP $49.99). MGM has also set the musical Oklahoma! for BD single release on 10/7 (SRP $29.99). This is essentially the exact same disc that was in last year’s The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection BD set, and includes both the Todd-AO and CinemaScope versions of the film.

In other news today, IFC Films has set Mad Men actor John Slattery’s first film God’s Pocket for Blu-ray and DVD release on 9/9. The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Jenkins, Christina Hendricks, and John Turturro.

Cinedigm will release Chinese-language historical action film The Last Supper on Blu-ray, DVD and digital on 10/14.

CBS and Paramount have set Bonanza: The Official Seventh Season – Volumes One and Two for DVD release on 9/2, followed by Dynasty: The Final Season – Volumes One and Two on DVD on 9/9.

Paramount will also release William H. Macy’s first film, Rudderless, digitally on 10/17, the same day as it arrives in theaters. One presumes a disc release will follow.

Not sure if we’ve mentioned this before, but Disney’s Maleficent will street on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/4 (SRP $36.99 and $29.99). Pre-orders are currently disabled on Amazon thanks to their latest dispute with the studio.

Image Entertainment has set Sony’s The China Syndrome for BD release on 10/14 (SRP $17.97).

Cult Epics has set the 1987 horror shocker Nekromantik for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/7.

Our friends at Olive Films have announced that they’re releasing Billy Wilder’s Fedora (1978) on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/28 (SRP $29.95 and $24.95). The film stars Henry Fonda, William Holden, Stephen Collins, Michael York and more. This will be followed by the camp sci-fi classic Moontrap (1989) on 11/4 (SRP $29.95 and $24.95), starring Bruce Campbell and Star Trek’s Walter Koenig.

Speaking of classics, our friends at Twilight have let slip that they’re going to be releasing a pair of classic Barbara Streisand films on Blu-ray on 12/9: Yentl (1983) and Funny Lady (1975). Additional details will be announced soon. Thanks to Bits reader Bill M. for the heads-up.

And StarVista Entertainment and Time Live have announced the 9/8 DVD only release of The Midnight Special: Collector’s Edition (SRP $99.95), 16 hours of classic 1970s rock and roll performances on 11 discs. You can pre-order it here.

Finally today, we need to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of legendary actress Lauren Bacall on Tuesday. Her extensive catalog of film appearances includes such classics as The Big Sleep, To Have and Have Not, Key Largo, Dark Passage, Murder on the Orient Express, How to Marry a Millionaire, and more recently Lars von Trier’s Dogville and Manderlay. She also worked extensively on TV and in the theater. Bacall was 89. You can read much more on her life and career here in The New York Times.

We’ll leave you today with a look at the Blu-ray cover artwork for Edge of Tomorrow, the Batman: 25th Anniversary Edition, the Young Frankenstein: 40th Anniversary Edition, Vikings: The Complete Second Season, The Strain: The Complete First Season (street date TBA), and Maleficent…

In announcement news today, PBS has set Masterpiece: Downton Abbey – Season Five for Blu-ray release on 1/27 (SRP $54.99).

Warner Home Video has set Joe Dante’s Looney Tunes Back in Action feature film for Blu-ray release on 12/2.

Retail Sources are telling us to expect Funimation’s Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series on Blu-ray and DVD on 12/16. Amazon currently has their exclusive BD/DVD Combo edition up for pre-order with an SRP of $99.98 and a sale price of $69.99.

Disney is planning to release Star Wars: Rebels – Spark of Rebellion on DVD on 10/14 (SRP $19.99). No word yet of a BD release.

Twilight Time has announced its 9/9 Blu-ray release slate, due to include Richard Fleischer’s Che! (1969), John Irvin’s The Dogs of War (1980), Sam Peckinpah’s The Killer Elite (1975 – the disc also includes Peckinpah’s Noon Wine from 1966), Luis Valdez’s La Bamba (1987), and Oliver Stone’s Salvador (1986)! So awesome to see The Killer Elite coming to BD. Pre-orders begin on Wednesday, 8/20 at 1 PM Pacific.